Hello, dear readers.
Reviews first, because I don't really have anything to say:
CommanderHawke667: Yeah, probably won't be many of those... well, ever. O.o :3 Glad you liked it, though.
Jellybelly Puffypants: Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the detailed review! 8'D I was worried I was making their love tale too doom and gloom, to be honest. ^^"
Besides, characters tend to root for the heroine that is wily and sly, and doesn't immediately fall for "prince charming". :)
All the same, thank you so, so much! And I'm eternally grateful for the Favorite Author listing!
And now, to the anxiously awaited update.
"Wake up, you worthless excuse for a human."
A kick punctuated the insult, and a dull pain radiated from the area around my already cracked (and most likely broken) ribs. I was barely conscious enough to let out a soft groan, slightly curling in on myself.
No… that memory was so comforting… let me go back to it, it's all I have left.
Another kick.
"Get up. You wanted to fight me directly, now get your stupid ass up off the ground, you pathetic girl. I said get up!"
A third kick came after the exclamation, and somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew that I needed to rise now, or be annihilated.
Get up.
Why? It'd be so much easier to just… let it go…
Get up NOW. This will be your last chance to fight for life!
But… it's not worth it…
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. GET UP!
If I die, I'll see him again… Artix…
If you get up, you have a chance to live. Then you will be told how to bring him back. Wouldn't he rather live than be brought back by her as an Undead?
That made everything in my head click into place, and the tiny flame that was my determination hesitantly flickered into existence again. Almost without my directing them, my arms began to move, pushing upwards to support my torso. My head still hung, gazing unseeing at the dirt below my fingers. I silently struggled to push myself up into a standing position, and it occurred to me belatedly that I didn't have my staff with me.
It fell when I was about to lose my life to that creature, my mind registered. I felt like I was watching everything from outside my body, and like I wasn't the one controlling my limbs. I shook my head once I was on my feet, trying to make everything else in my scrambled head to slide into the whole, like the pieces to a puzzle. It makes things easier to have my staff, but… it's not completely vital. I straightened up as much as I could while still being slightly dizzy, and bared my teeth at Vayle. The slightly inhuman action reminded me of Kai, and a moment's worry about him made me pause.
"How about as a gesture of goodwill," Vayle said viciously, "I let you have first hit."
If she's that confident about all this… I shook off the half-formed thought in my mind. I already knew that this Necromantress bitch was probably stronger than I was, I didn't need the added apprehension. So, instead of losing my chance, I just nodded curtly. If a free hit is offered, you don't turn it down. Just like if there was a healing pad, you never passed it up, no matter how little you seemed to need it.
There was no moment when the fight really started. All I knew was that one second, we were standing there, and the next I was ducking and dodging anything she threw at me as best I could. Much to my relief, the Necromantress didn't summon any more undead creatures to fight me; this time, it was one on one.
In a way, I both appreciated and admired that.
The entire time I attempted to evade her magical and melee attacks, I was pushing my mind to its limit, shoving it deeper into the stream of magic that lay behind the barrier than I ever had before. I wasn't using my preferred techniques to get past the walls, either—it was all brute force that allowed me to reach the magic. And while that felt… profoundly wrong, it was the most effective strategy that permitted me to use the least amount of my focus at the moment. In the depths of my mind, it was blow after blow after mind-shattering blow at the magic, nothing but shoving at the magic to bend it to my submission.
But no sooner had I finally grasped the full control of it than I was no longer in control of my own body.
Some foreign power seized the controls of my whole frame, making my limbs and even eyes move without my command. As soon as I realized what was happening, I did my best to pull back the tendrils of thought that were sunk so deep into the river of magic racing through the back of my mind, but to no avail. It was akin to pulling your feet out of a tar pit; impossible and nothing short of terrifying.
Whatever it was that was invading my body, it did not allow me to get injured any worse, at least. When I had thought my energy reserves nearly depleted, whatever it was pushed my body beyond the limits I typically unconsciously set for it.
So this is why Warlic can't use too much magic, I realized numbly as I continued to try and pull myself out of the unyielding pull of the current. I sensed something else there, too, something that frightened me far more than the fact that I did not control my body. When I realized what it was, my struggles to escape the magic suddenly increased dramatically, with my inner self nearly thrashing.
Madness, I realized with panic. This is madness. Beyond the magic lies madness, irrationality, insensibility. That is the place where there is no reasoning or common sense, no rational judgment and no reason.
Madness… One of my irrational fears that had never been acknowledged. Now, however, it didn't seem so irrational, not with the flexible fingers stretching towards me, wearing manic smiles.
NO! I roared, both internally and externally. Fighting back against the magic that nearly consumed me, I drew myself up, flinging out my left arm towards Vayle. Something made her pause, and I'm not sure what it was. Perhaps it was the look in my eye, or maybe it was her considering her next move. I don't know, and I don't care.
Work with me, I crooned to the magic that encompassed my body. I was so close… so close to winning, so close to killing her… so close to the madness. I wasn't going to stop this far short of my goal. Still… I felt like I was missing something. I was very close to something else… but what was it?
Kill her.
A jet of pure energy (not lightning, and not light… I'm not sure what it was. It just existed) exploded out of my palm, paired with the release of a purely irrational, cracked, and insane laugh escaped my lips. I continued to laugh in a truly horrifying way with delight as the magic forced more and more of its power through that outlet anchored to my left palm. I threw my head back as it unleashed even more of its terrifying force, feeling almost giddy.
All this time, I had continued to fight the river and the madness within, and I still fought to not slip. One mistake. That would be all it took.
I was so, so very close. I could see, beyond the blinding power, Vayle with a force field up, her arm in front of her eyes, wrestling with not letting any of the ancient magic that I now controlled through the cracks. But her resolve was slipping, I could see that much, and a look of pure, unimaginable terror, dread, and distress crossed her face. Then a ray of the yellow power shot through her shield, nailing the magenta jewel and splitting it up into thousands of tiny shards that were all but a powder. The light surrounded Vayle, and a shriek similar to the type a banshee might emit came from her.
I didn't stop.
The laughter that was beginning to send chills down my spine was still coming from my own mouth, and I must have looked almost demonic as I felt. Up was down, left was right. White was black, hard was soft, and all the things in between. My mental fingers began to tremble against the pull of the madness and the current, shaking terribly.
Let go.
Just let go of it… it would be so much easier.
No.
There would be nothing else to worry about, though, little Mage.
NO, I said again to the voices within my mind.
You won't miss anything here, whispered another in my ear.
Come with us.
Life is fun here.
There is no death.
Death…
No death, they promised.
Death. I repeated it firmly to myself. There was something I needed to remember… It had to do with death.
Nothing to worry about. Just let go, murmured the voices again, sounding terribly inviting.
It would be so easy to let go, I breathed, agreeing with them, But no. There's something I need to do first.
No there's not, they crooned. Nothing you need to worry about.
Bullshit, I snapped, now infuriated. I need to do… whatever it was!
… What was it?
No. Doesn't matter right now. Get to safe ground.
With that new goal inside my mind, I fought to my limits against the madness and the magic. The further I got from it—inch by inch, painfully slowly—the more my terror increased, as well as the realization of what I had been about to give in to.
Artix! I have to get him back!
And with that, I burst free from the matter behind the walls, and returned to my own head.
Outwardly, I'm sure I stood there for several long minutes, staring off into space. But as soon as I regained control of my limbs, I dropped to the ground on my knees with a tremendous gasp, dragging air into my lungs as fast as I could. For my mind right now, though it felt quite empty, there existed nothing but absolute dread that slowly faded with each lungful of oxygen I sucked in through my mouth.
I leaned forward until my brow rested gingerly on the earth, my hands planted on either side. I continued to breathe heavily, but maybe not quite so desperately as before. I allowed my eyes to drift shut for a few minutes, allowing my heartbeat to slow along with my breathing.
After what felt like hours, I finally sat up, looking around. Straight ahead from where I stood, there was a long, straight gouge dug out of the earth, and I couldn't see where it ended.
I did that…
A little to the side, in a puddle of blood that had nearly soaked into the ground, there lay a lean, slim figure, breathing shallowly.
Vayle.
With effort, I forced myself to my feet, but almost immediately fell to the ground again, my strength having nearly deserted me. The world spun, but I continued to fight the nausea, crawling over to where Vayle lay some twenty feet away. I needed to know.
"How?" I asked numbly, shaking her shoulder mercilessly. Her eyes flicked over to me before becoming unfocused again. She didn't answer. I shook her again, my eyes narrowing. "How do I get Artix back? Tell me!" Her breathing stuttered, and her eyes zoned in on me again.
"Death's realm," she whispered in a small voice. "Go…"
"Death's Realm?" I repeated, my brow furrowing.
"Yes…" she murmured as her blinks began to slow down, her eyes permanently unfocused now. "I didn't… I never meant to kill him… It was Noctis…"
"Noctis?" Somewhere in the back of my stressed out and nearly shattered mind, it seemed to me that this was the type of thing that she had to get out before nobody alive knew it. I understood that urge, and I was willing to listen.
She was dying, after all, and I had no more health potions, and no way to heal her. Not that I would, anyway. The point was that I couldn't even if I had wanted to.
"Yes… jewel… he manipulated me… told me… he could get my b… brother… back… my brother… I'll see him again?" Her tone tugged at my heartstrings. It sounded so young and hopeful that I couldn't help but nod. Her brother… he must have died. Well, that explains her overreactions when I insulted him in a roundabout way. I nodded again, and her face relaxed slightly, a faint smile brushing across her lips. She must really have loved him…
Then before I could do anything more, her eyes rolled back, and her breathing slowed before stopping completely.
I did this… I killed her…
I won.
A hollow victory.
So, things wrapped up with the fight between these two here. Next time, you are permitted to look forward to the last big leg of this story… actually getting Artix back. ^^
If you have questions that do not involve spoilers, please feel free to ask. Whether I will answer is another matter entirely.
Advice? Be careful to not get carpal tunnel. XD I'm pretty damn close to getting it already. You'd better love me, readers. :(
Hope you enjoyed.
Until next time.
